boot from flash drive on a dimension 3000

Two settings to check in BIOS setup:

• USB: Make sure "USB no boot" is NOT enabled.
• OS Install Mode: Try enabling this option

Be sure to save the changes before exiting setup.

NOTE: Assuming the OS installs now, you will have to go  back into BIOS setup and disable OS Install Mode again.

Since you're getting the 7B error, it sounds like the image of XP you're using was created for a PC that has SATA drives. Since yours only has IDE drives, it probably shouldn't even be looking for SATA drives which can give you the 7B error.

Since you said it wouldn't install after booting from a CD, if you have more than one optical drive, did you try the other one? Or if there's more than one optical drive, you may have to unplug the optical drive from the connector at the middle of the IDE ribbon cable, leaving only the optical drive connected to the end of that ribbon.

Reply no. 2 and there is no edit button:

I flashed the bios from A03 to A03, just in case it would help, but it did not.

Rohe:  hello, thanks for your response

bios settings:  usb emulation set to on

                           usb controller set to on

os install mode, set to on , tried and got a 7b

                              set to off, tried again and still got a 7b

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There was one new difference, after clicking F12 , I usually got list of boot options, chose 5, for usb, and then the next step would be to press any key to boot

These last 2 times got the boot choice, THEN got press F1 to continue or F2 to get setup, so I pressed F1 and then got to the step to press any key to boot from flash drive.

The reason it took so long to get back to you was I had to create several ISO's. Finally got one that Rufus would accept to make my flash bootable. I had originally used several xp iso's that I had already created, and your idea that I may have been using a sata iso did have some merit as one of my iso's was made for a latitude d610 and I did create a sata slipstreamed iso.

So I created a new iso from scratch , slipstreaming in service pack 3, and then creating the iso with the boot image extracted from my dell install cd. Well I actually created 3 new iso's as rufus kept saying the iso's were not supported!!!  but, finally got an iso but alas, it did not boot as explained above. But at least this iso was not anywhere near a sata controller being accidentally slipstreamed onto my iso. :)

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I was able to boot from my cd to reinstall the other day, I am all new now, imgburn will not create any NEW install discs as I keep getting errors and the imgburn forums say that the cd drive is bad, and the online scan from dell said I needed a new cd drive, but fortunately so far it is still reading a cd so that I can boot.

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I do not understqnd how I could boot to the flash with the dell diagnostics okay, but not with the os, it goes to 7B right after the screen says that Windows is now starting up. and the other drive is a dvd and it does not work with cds at all. :(

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Eagerly awaiting your next suggestion, oh and I have read that after clicking f12 and usb device that the boot sequence would then list usb, but it does not. ??

F12 Booting is not supported on all models all years.

What does it do if you piano press F2 then F12 then F2 then F12 Then F2 then F12?

If it doesnt show a boot menu with the flash drive its not going to work.

Also this may need a PS2 keyboard to work.

STOP 7B is inacessable Boot Device.

All drives including the optical MUST BE SET Cable Select.

AND the Color of the connector says who is who.

Black is drive 0   Grey is drive 1   Blue Goes to the motherboard.

Must be 80 wire UDMA 133 cable.

Have you tried using a different USB stick? Maybe this one has problems?

I still think you may need to disconnect the optical drive connected to the middle connector on that ribbon cable. When I tried to reinstall XP on this old Dimension 8400, I had to disconnect the second optical drive.  Same thing happened when I upgraded this same PC to Win 7...

Is it possible SP3 is causing your problem. What happens if you boot from USB with an iso that hasn't been slipstreamed with SP3?

speedstep, hello, thanks for your response,

F12 booting is supported, I can boot with other flash drives, and have booted with hiren's and the dell diagnostics and darik's dban.

When it used to boot and I pressed F12 it would come up with a screen saying a one time boot option, I did not go into setup to change boot.

I will attempt the pianoing and only hope that I do not damage something with this unprecedented move.

This is a ps2, came with the dell when it was new. NOT a usb attachment but a multipronged plug.

2 cables, one between MB and HDD Blue pull tag is on the hdd. the other cable has three spots on it the MB end, then a long length to the bottom dvd drive , and next the top cd drive. cable came with the dell. so it is the proper one. All colors on this cable are gray.

I will check the drives, should all be at cable select but will check and get back to you., on this and the pianoing.

NOTE: actually it is not the same cable, but it is connected correctly. :)

Rohe, hi again, yes, have tried to date 7 different flash drives, and they all boot on other pcs, just not this one.

I will see if disconnecting the second optical dvd drive will have any effect, and to reiterate, I can and did boot off the cd, just cannot burn another cd as imgburn and dell say it cannot read or something , I forget which now. But I already had a burned cd and booted fine off that.

However, I still want to boot off a flash drive, just stubborn that way. :)

will get back to you on whether disconnecting the optical drive had any effect on booting from a flash.

Note: would have replied sooner but had a heck of a time getting dell to let me sign into the forums.

reply 2:

@speedstep, I will not try pianoing again! locked up the pc and gave a keyboard failure, had to do a hard shutdown, and I hate doing hard shutdowns, :)

single harddrive was at cable select, and can still get setup files loaded but get the 7b when it gets to the screen saying windows is starting up.

@rohe, disconnecting the second optical drive did not have any effect, if you take a glance at the last entry on page one, you can see I spent considerable time trying different iso's and creating brand new iso's, that were nowhere near a sata controller, :) I am using the same exact procedure that I use to create my slipstreamed cd iso, to create my slipstreamed usb iso.

That last attempt was with a brand new flash drive.

I have also pulled the cmos battery to set bios to defaults, then reset the date and still no joy.

Hopefully , you might have some more suggestions??

Hello, again, speedstep, I have been thinking over your answer and while it is partially the answer, I think that you are assuming that I want to run xp from the flash drive, like linux or hiren's. NO NO, I want to reinstall xp from the usb, does your answer still cover my issue??

SpeedStep: thanks , your last 2 replies have been marked as the answer. Appreciate all the effort. :)

FYI, regarding the reason for booting from USB in the first place, there are plenty of IDE DVD drives for sale on eBay, for much less than the $35 of retrofitting SATA.

Thanks, it may be that I will have to check that out, :)